


Bonding Moments

by CaptainNightGale



Series: Of Hunters and Hunting [2]
Category: Monster Hunter (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Hunting, Kitten is terrified of being abandoned, good ol' family bonding trips, hunts, khezu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 22:34:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13961487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainNightGale/pseuds/CaptainNightGale
Summary: Just a quiet little bonding moment amongst the hunts. Kitten's here to learn some stuff and not get abandoned again.





	Bonding Moments

**Author's Note:**

> A thing for my friend, who likes the monster hunter games. I don't so much, but she asked nicely

Kitten shivered as she hopped down from the caravan, attempting to blow warmth into her hands through the too-large mittens she wore.  
Different scenery from the night before. But then, she’d fallen asleep to the rocking of the caravan as it trundled on into the north.  
It was far colder than it had been, and Uma said that it would only get colder the further north they travelled.  
Kitten looked about, squinting in the fine mist to see where Uma was. When she didn’t see her straight away, the familiar panic started to rise in her chest, making it hard to breath.  
 _What if Uma had finally got tired of her, what if she was just dead weight, what if Uma was just taking her this far to leave as bait –_  
“Good view, isn’t it?”  
Uma came around the side of the caravan and Kitten squawked, leaping into the air.  
The huntress shot her a concerned look. “There’s food, if you’re hungry. Otherwise we should get on with the job.”  
Kitten nodded and hurried to keep up with Uma as she rounded the caravan to where Snow and Sunny were crouched at a small fire.  
“Hey Kit!” Sunny looked up, grinning. “Did you sleep well?”  
Uma sat down beside a set of four packs and resumed looking through her equipment.  
Kitten nodded, taking the rough plate that Snow pushed in her direction, and sat down as close to the fire as she could comfortably manage.  
“It should warm up some once the mist has burnt off,” Uma said, not looking up from the pickaxe in her hands.  
Kitten made a muffled noise of agreement, having stuffed her mouth with as much food as possible. There was no need to, these days, but the habit of a lifetime spent in the slums was not about to be broken so easily. As much as she wanted to trust Uma, there was just no knowing what might happen. When the generosity would run out and Kitten would be left in the dirt–  
“Armour up when you’re done eating.”  
Kitten wrinkled her nose. The armour was stiff and uncomfortable and unwieldy.  
“That armour will save your life.”  
“Uma is lending you that armour out of the goodness of her heart and don’t you forget it,” Snow all but snapped at her.  
“Snow.” The warning was clear in Uma’s voice.  
The palico subsided with an unintelligible growl and a sharp glare he shot Kitten’s way.  
Kitten swallowed and tapped her thumbs against the plate. “What are you teaching me today?”  
“Gathering,” Uma replied, hefting the pickaxe in her hands and flipping it to check the other side of the head.  
“Seaside edition,” Sunny said eagerly. “Fish and saltplants.”  
“And maybe some ores, if the caves are open.” Uma smiled at the eager palico.  
“If they’re – open?” Kitten frowned.  
“Accessible,” Uma explained. “With the tides.”  
Sunny took Kitten’s plate, gesturing to the wagon so she could finish getting ready.

The mist hadn’t burnt off by the time they were on the beach. In fact, it seemed even thicker.  
Kitten kept close to Uma, slipping and sliding as she scrambled over rocks that were too big, and shifted under her weight.  
The two palico were silhouettes on either side of them, near enough that they could still be seen, that they could still talk if they raised their voices, keeping an eye on their surroundings further than Uma or Kitten could.   
“Here.” Uma stopped, turned sideways, and slid down a gap between the rocks.  
Kitten let out a yell to alert the palico, and hesitated where she stood. She couldn’t see into the gap, couldn’t see where Uma had gone, couldn’t see if she was hurt, or still falling, or–  
“What’s happened?” Sunny came bounding across.  
“Uma, she–” Kitten pointed down into the gap.  
“It’s safe,” Uma called back up, accompanied by the sound of faint splashing. “I’m here.”  
“Uma?” Sunny stuck his head down the gap.  
“Get back to your work, Sunny,” Uma called back up, her voice light. “We’re fine here.”  
Sunny patted Kitten’s gloved hand and bounded away.  
Kitten fiddled with the small sword strapped to her side. Uma had given it a name, but she didn’t remember what that was.  
“Kitten,” Uma called up, the hint of a sigh in her voice. “It’s safe. I _will_ catch you, I promise.”  
 _She didn’t like having to baby Kitten, she had more important things to be doing–_  
Kitten took in a deep breath, and jumped.  
“There we go.” Uma caught her, grunting as she stepped a foot back to counter balance the extra weight.  
Kitten reflexively clutched at Uma, hands stiffly curling about ridges in her armour.  
Distantly, Kitten could hear water rushing. The wind from above seemed louder, rushing about the openings in the rock.  
“You have to let go,” Uma said gently, almost fondly.  
“Sorry.” Kitten let go, and slithered down.  
There was enough water to splash in, but not enough to do any lasting damage to her gear.  
“What – what about Sunny? And Snow?” Kitten looked up at the hole they’d come in by.  
“They’re on guard up top,” Uma replied, crouching slightly as she began to pick her way along the jagged path. “And fishing.”  
The path dissolved into darkness, and Uma stepped carefully and confidently around the small puddles of water and across rocks that shifted and grated at the slightest touch of weight.  
“So we’re looking for – plants?” Kitten followed her, keeping a hand on the wall for balance and to orientate herself.  
The cave wasn’t so dark, now she’d been in it long enough. It was dim, natural light only coming in through cracks in the rocks above. The rocks beneath her feet were slippery and uneven, and Kitten fell several times as they shifted underneath her, soaking her knees and hands even through the stiff leather.  
Uma cautioned her once, and another time pressed her up against the side, going absolutely still for several long moments that seemed to Kitten to stretch into an eternity.  
Kitten had long since lost track of even an _idea_ of what sort of time it might be in the world above when Uma stepped forward and knelt to take her bag from her back.  
Kitten stepped around her and _felt_ rather than saw the size of the cavern they were in.  
“Watch yourself,” Uma murmured, and her voice echoed.  
Kitten drew back in then cautiously extended a foot before her, to test the ground.  
She found nothing, and stepped back until she was pressed up against the rock surface.  
Uma struck a match and lit a lantern she’d pulled from her bag. “Here. Pass me the one from yours.”  
The sudden light – no matter that it was soft – had Kitten closing her eyes and looking away, blinking rapidly to adjust her sight.  
They were standing on a ledge, a sort of rim that ran right around the cavern. It wasn’t too far off the ground; easy enough to scramble, but only if you knew it was there. The unexpected drop would hurt.  
Kitten found the unlit lantern in her pack easily, and traded it for Uma’s lit one. She waited for the huntress to be ready, raising the lantern slightly to see further into the cavern.  
Uma stood with her lantern lit and swung her bag onto her back. Then she shot a glance towards the ceiling and stepped forward off the ledge.  
Kitten squeaked as Uma slid, but the huntress steadied herself and half ran down the steep slope to the bottom, where she took a few more steps before coming to a halt and turning. She’d raised dust and a racket as stones, disturbed by her passing, fell with her.  
“Not as steep as it looks,” she called up, her voice hushed to a kind of stage whisper that carried easily but didn’t echo. “Come on.”  
The sound of her descent fell away.  
Uma raised her lantern, throwing the slope into sharp relief.  
Gripping her own lantern in one hand, Kitten lowered herself until she was all but sitting on the ground and inched her way down.  
“Clever.” Uma smiled, offering her a hand to stand.  
Kitten smiled cautiously back as she stood, fixing the short sword at her side.  
“Now,” Uma said, giving another quick glance to the ceiling. “We’re here for sleep herb, which should be growing along the ground here.” She crouched down to study the ground. “This one.” Uma spread the shiny, broad leaves out for Kitten to see. “We want the leaves, but be careful how you cut it.”  
Kitten crouched to study the plant, committing it to memory. “Why?”  
“The smell is horrific,” Uma answered, showing Kitten how to cut the leaves and then store it in their sacks. “We don’t need that.”  
“Just the leaves,” Kitten repeated.  
“You think you can do that?” Uma glanced at her, smiling. “But make sure to leave some on the plants, alright?”  
Kitten nodded as she stood, retrieving her own knife from its slot in the belt beside her sword.  
“Good.” Uma smiled. “I won’t be too far away, if you need help with anything.”  
Kitten nodded again, with only the slightest bit of hesitation. She could cut plants, no problem. And Uma wouldn’t be far away.  
Not that she would call her unless it was dangerous. She had to prove her worth. Then Uma would keep her on.  
The lantern cast light in a softly diffused circle about her, and Kitten fiddled with the shutters to narrow and focus the beam ahead of her, so she could see more clearly where she was stepping, and where the plants were growing.  
She found one sprawling out from under a boulder that was covered with scrape marks that had worn smooth with time, warmly damp with water.  
Setting her lantern on the ground beside it, Kitten crouched down and sorted through the leaves for the biggest ones.  
They were slippery to hold, the first few sliding out of her gloved hands as she grasped at them.  
Teasing her glove off – they were stiff, and surely she’d have better luck if she could move her fingers – she dropped it to the side and tried again.  
The leaves were _slick_ with slime, and Kitten couldn’t help her disgusted cry.  
“Kitten?”  
“They’re _gross_ ,” she called back, looking around.  
Uma had straightened up, looking towards her. She had a hand on one of the blades at her side.  
Kitten wiped her hand off against her chest, the leather rough to the touch. “I’m ok,” she said, when Uma didn’t return to her own gathering. “It just – startled me. That’s all.” She wouldn’t – _couldn’t_ – let Uma think she couldn’t handle this.  
Uma nodded slowly and crouched down beside her lantern without another word.  
Kitten took a careful hold of the plant again, further down the stem from the leaves. She placed her blade against it, as Uma had shown her, and made a quick slice.  
The plant was tougher than it appeared, and didn’t cut instantly.  
Kitten frowned and came back at it, with maybe slightly more force than was necessary. The plant swayed, and one of the leaves crushed into the rocks beside her.  
She choked on the smell that was released, gagging as it hit the back of her throat, and pressed her nose into her elbow.  
It was almost familiar, but if this was supposed to send someone to _sleep_ it was by knockout rather than relaxation–  
Something let out a low burbling _hiss_ above, and in the instant after the cavern was lit up with the crackle of blue-white sparks.  
Kitten flinched, pressing herself closer to the floor even as she twisted her head to look up. And _shrieked_.  
A mouth, dripping ooze and baring _far_ too many jagged teeth, was reaching down from the roof. That was all it was, a mouth on a long neck.  
 _Why were there no eyes oh god–_  
Kitten scrambled away, leaving her lantern behind as she bolted.  
Leathery _thwapping_ filled the air, and then a squelching thud, and that hiss again, of air around _too many teeth_.  
“It’s alright.” Uma caught her as Kitten instinctively hid around behind the huntress. “It’s just a khezu.”  
 _Just a_ –  
“A – what?” Kitten squeaked, tilting about to look at the beast.  
It was an off-white grey, shimmering in the light from both their lanterns. It had wings, with stubby claws that it was using to pull itself across the ground, and perhaps there was more beyond that, but she couldn’t–  
 _Why did it have no eyes._  
That was the sticking point, the obvious thing, beyond the horrific mouth.  
“A khezu.” Uma seemed calm, unconcerned by this. “It shouldn’t be a bother for us, right?” She glanced down at Kitten, smiling.  
“You – you’re going to fight that?”  
“Oh, no.” Uma shook her head, and backed up as the khezu came wriggling towards them again. “It’s not worth my time.”  
Kitten breathed a faint sigh of relief. It didn’t seem fast, Uma was confident, so maybe they could get away easily enough. Perhaps without the plants they came with, but–  
“ _You’re_ going to fight it.”  
Kitten must have misheard her. There was no way– “ _What_?” she squeaked. “But I – no – I _can’t_.”  
“Yes you can.” Uma pulled Kitten’s short sword from her belt and placed it in her shaking hands.  
Kitten clutched at its handle, taking the small buckler from her back to rest on her left arm.  
“And I’ll be right here if you need help, alright?” Uma gently pushed her forward.  
Uma believed she could do it. Uma was watching, she would be–  
 _Uma was watching her, she would fail, Uma would know she was a waste of her time–_  
“Kitten?” Uma was watching her. “It’s alright. I won’t let it win. You’re safe.”  
Just – just _expected to fight a beast that was all teeth and slime._  
Kitten nodded, shifting her grasp on the short sword as it slipped in her hands. Uma believed in her. Uma trusted her, thought she could do this.  
Kitten leapt forward, raising her sword.

**Author's Note:**

> What, you didn't think you were getting the fight as well?  
>  Please.


End file.
